This invention relates generally to the detection of weather disturbances which are particularly hazardous to aircraft during takeoff and landing and more particularly to the radar detection of the location and intensity of microbursts and the resulting low level wind shear, as well as wind gust fronts, tornado vortices and their antecedent mesocyclones.
Although there are existing and contemplated techniques for radar detection of potentially hazardous weather disturbances, they are known to require the use of special dedicated narrow beam Doppler weather radars. A 1984 publication entitled, "Microburst Wind Structure And Evaluation of Doppler Radar For Airport Wind Shear Detection" by J. W. Wilson, et al., which appeared in the Journal of Climate and Applied Meteorology, Vol. 23, at pp. 898-995, discloses one such an approach. However, no known solution exists to date for integrating the detection of the aforesaid weather disturbances, particularly low level wind shear, into radars used primarily for airport surveillance which by design have one or more relatively large vertical fan beams. A typical example of this type of radar is disclosed in a publication entitled, "Design of a New Airport Surveillance Radar (ASR-9)" by John W. Taylor, et al., which appeared in the Proceedings Of The IEEE, Vol. 3, No. 2, February, 1985, pp. 284-289.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improvement in the detection of certain weather disturbances.
It is another object of this invention to provide an improvement in the radar detection of certain weather disturbances which are accompanied by relatively violent winds in a small locality.
It is still another object of this invention to provide an improvement in the radar detection of microbursts, low level wind shear, wind gust fronts, tornado vortices, and mesocyclones.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide for the detection and indication of the position as well as determining the intensity of microbursts and the associated low level wind shear and turbulence which are particularly hazardous to aircraft during takeoff and landing.